Pioneers

Thomas Edison

Also Known As Thomas Alva Edison · The Wizard of Menlo Park Epithet earned after he publicly demonstrated the phonograph in December 1877 at his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory.

United States

Citation Formats

General Reference

Energy Atlas. "Thomas Edison." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://energy.interactiveatlas.org/pioneers/thomas-edison.

APA Style

Energy Atlas. (n.d.). Thomas Edison. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://energy.interactiveatlas.org/pioneers/thomas-edison

BibTeX

@misc{energyatlas-thomas-edison,
  author = {Energy Atlas},
  title = {Thomas Edison},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://energy.interactiveatlas.org/pioneers/thomas-edison},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The American inventor who built the first complete system of electric light and power: a practical incandescent lamp in 1879, then generation, distribution and metering together at the Pearl Street Station in Manhattan in 1882, the first central power station serving paying customers. His backing of direct current lost the war of currents to alternating current, and the industry he founded kept his name for a century.

Facts

Birth Date

1847-02-11 1

Birth Year

1847 1

Death Date

1931-10-18 1

Death Year

1931 1

Nationality

American 1

Defining Contribution

The first complete electric light and power system, Pearl Street Station, 1882 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Electrical Grid

Pearl Street Station was the first complete commercial generation and distribution system.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Milestones Credited

Edison Perfects the Incandescent Lamp

Source United States Department of Energy Official Site

Holborn Viaduct Station Opens

Source Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

Pearl Street Station Opens

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Sources

1. Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source

United States Department of Energy Official Site

US Department of EnergyMilestones Credited: Edison Perfects the Incandescent Lamp, The History of the Light Bulb, Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way

Quote, Milestones Credited: Edison Perfects the Incandescent Lamp, The History of the Light Bulb, Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way

By October 1879, Edison's team had produced a light bulb with a carbonized filament of uncoated cotton thread that could last for 14.5 hours.

View the Source

Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

Grace's Guide LtdMilestones Credited: Holborn Viaduct Station Opens, Edison first public electricity generation station

Quote, Milestones Credited: Holborn Viaduct Station Opens, Edison first public electricity generation station

1882 Thomas Edison designed (what has been claimed to be) the world's first public steam-powered electricity generating station to light the lamps on Holborn Viaduct.

View the Source

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.

Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)

No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.

Switch Atlas

The Inner World

The Civil World

The Natural World